Friday, September 17, 2010

DINNER TRAIN: Public subsidy irks Disability Commission

COLUMBIA, 9/16/10 (Beat
Byte) -- A $45,000 City of Columbia public subsidy for a "dinner
train" that will run on the publicly-owned COLT
railway from Columbia to Centralia has local disability advocates
crying foul.

Though the city may spend $20,000 making its loading
ramp accessible, the train won't be, they claim. None of the four,
50-passenger renovated vintage railroad cars will comply with the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA).

The train's owners, Central States Railroad Company
(CSRC), claim their project is exempt from ADA requirements. But a letter from
Central States' Des Moines-based attorney T. Scott Bannister doesn't instill
confidence in their position.

Calling ADA "the Americans for
Disabilities Act," Bannister didn't even get the law's name correct in a letter
to assistant city attorney Cavanaugh Noce.

In a complaint
Columbia city manager Bill Watkins discussed at last week's Council
meeting, Disability Commission members claim the dinner train is a restaurant
and so must allow equal access for all. But CSRC counters that modifying the
cars would be expensive (roughly $175,000); reduce customer capacity; and delay
the project.

Additionally, Bannister claims ADA allows for an
unusual exemption from its accessibility guidelines: historic railroad cars.
Any modification that would "significantly alter" the
historic character of the cars isn't required.

But that doesn't remove the rub: Does the public
subsidy and use of the publicly owned COLT line impose a greater responsibility
on Central States to make their project accessible to all
members of the public? After all, people with disabilities pay taxes, too.

Addressing concern over potential lawsuits, "The train is
not ours," Mr. Watkins wrote in a Council report. "Our contract calls for them
[CSRC] to indemnify the city."

1 comment:

Thank you so much for the article on the Dinner Train and the fact that upon arrival it would not be ADA Friendly. All to many times the Disabled Population is overlooked when it comes to all aspects of accessibility.

Keep up the great work in keeping this City Government honest and accountable to the citizens of this community.